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NHL suspends Landeskog 3 games |
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Rick Sadowski
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The NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday suspended Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog three games for his cross check to the head of Anaheim's Simon Despres at 11:29 of the third period in Wednesday's 3-0 Colorado win.
Landeskog is considered a repeat offender because he served a two-game suspension in November for a hit against Boston's Brad Marchand. He will lose $203,832.75 in salary.
Here's the league video and explanation:
"I didn’t know it was Landeskog," Depres told the Orange County Register. "I certainly felt the hit. It was high. Definitely didn’t feel very good."
Landeskog won't be eligible to return to the lineup until March 20 in Edmonton.
The Avalanche play their next four games on the road, starting with Winnipeg on Saturday. They'll return to Denver after playing the Jets because there are three off days before the next game, Wednesday in Vancouver, followed by games in Calgary and against the Oilers.
The next home game isn't until March 24 against Philadelphia.
The Avalanche are off Thursday and will practice Friday.
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The Avalanche won three of four games on the homestand and handed the Ducks their first regulation loss since a 6-2 defeat to Pittsburgh on Feb. 8. They took a 12-0-2 streak into the game and were 18-1-2 in their previous 21 games.
Nathan MacKinnon, Andreas Martinsen and Shawn Matthias scored the goals and goalie Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves. He's stopped 74 of 75 shots in two games since sitting out the previous two.
"I think it helped Varly to regroup and to work with (goalie coach) Francois (Allaire) and really forcus on his game," Roy said. "Sometimes it's good just to have a step back. He's been outstanding since."
The shutout was Varlamov's second of the season and 20th of his NHL career. His 16 shutouts with the Avalanche are second to Roy's 37.
“I cannot win the games by myself," Varlamov said. "It’s all about my team and how they play in front of me. When we are playing well, like when the guys are picking up the rebounds around the net, like blocking the shots, it’s big. It’s very helpful for me and I think that’s why I’ve had success.
"Every game is like a playoff game. We need to continue to keep winning. We need to go on a streak and win like four or five games. It will be tough, but we have to do it. I think everyone is really focusing right now and everyone wants to make the playoffs.”
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The Avalanche killed three Ducks power plays while nursing a 1-0 lead, running their streak to 22 in a row in a seven-game stretch. They've killed 34 of 35 penalties in the past 11 games.
"Anaheim is in second place on the power play in the league," Varlamov said. "The PK was the key. It's a very dangerous team with lots of skill guys, so it was really important to play a solid game defensively."
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Defenseman Francois Beauchemin logged a game-high 25 minutes against his former team. He had six blocked shots and assisted on Martinsen's goal.
"We knew how they were playing lately," he said. "They've been one of the best teams since the Christmas break. We had a big challenge in front of us and I thought our response was great. We just proved to ourselves if we play the right way we can beat any team."
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Martinsen showed he has a scoring touch with a terrific backhand shot after taking a return pass from Matt Duchene to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead late in the second period.
The Ducks are one of the biggest teams in the league and Martinsen is 6-feet-3, 220 pounds. He replaced Jack Skille, who isn't a slouch at 6-1, 216 on the fourth line but is in a slump with no goals and one assist in 21 games.
"He's been working really hard in practices and I thought that's a big team and I thought he'd be a great fit for it and he scored a big goal for us," Roy said.
The goal was Martinsen's third of the season, his first in 31 games. He hadn't played since Feb. 20. He was a healthy scratch the next game, missed two games after being sent to San Antonio, and was scratched four games following his recall.
"It was a really good feeling seeing that puck go in," he said. "It's always hard to (sit out), but that's part of it, that's how it is," Martinsen said. "I just had to be ready for when you come back in."
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